eResearch

Advertising Future Shaped by GenAI and Expanding Competition

October 3, 2025 Chris Thompson

The advertising industry is undergoing a major transformation as Generative AI reshapes creative processes, campaign execution, and audience targeting. Market dynamics are shifting, with total online ad spend projected to grow significantly and new entrants gaining share against dominant players like Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta. Emerging platforms such as TikTok, Snap, and Spotify are attracting advertiser budgets, while Canadian ad tech firms, including EQ Works, Nextech3D.ai, Adcore, and Zoomd Technologies, are positioned to benefit from the evolving landscape. Agencies face disruption but remain relevant for strategic and brand-focused roles in a hybrid, AI-assisted future. [more]

Wonder Group to Acquire Grubhub in $650 Million Deal

November 14, 2024 Chris Thompson

Wonder Group, a delivery-focused food hall operator, has agreed to acquire Grubhub from Just Eat Takeaway.com for $650 million. The deal, comprising $150 million in cash and $500 million in senior notes, is expected to close in Q1/2025. Wonder plans to integrate Grubhub’s platform, which connects 375,000 merchants across 4,000 U.S. cities, to enhance its super app for meal ordering. This acquisition comes as Wonder raises $250 million to support its growth and follows its 2023 purchase of Blue Apron. Grubhub continues to face market challenges, with declining share and ongoing profitability concerns. [more]

Instacart Drops Valuation Ahead of IPO but Reports Positive Profits in H1/2023

August 27, 2023 Chris Thompson

Instacart, a prominent figure in the online grocery delivery landscape, has unveiled its intentions to enter the public market. Instacart’s financial health has shown a significant improvement in recent years. Total revenue hit $2.55 billion in 2022 up from $1.83 million in 2021, an increase of 39%. The company reported a profit of $428 million in 2022, up from a net loss of $73 million in 2021. [more]

Bardown – Uber into the Top Shelf of the Liquor Cabinet with Drizzly Acquisition

February 20, 2021 Michael Lacasse

Propelled by surging eCommerce, Drizly cashes in on shuttered bars with sale to Uber. It is the second major deal in the last year for Uber after buying Postmates for $2.65 billion in 2020. [more]

2021 PGC Conference – Trends in the Gaming Industry

February 13, 2021 Michael Lacasse

Pocket Gamer Connects conference discusses the market growth in 2020, an uptick in M&A activity, and how revenue models are changing the industry. [more]

DoorDash the Largest Food Delivery Company in the U.S. to IPO on the NYSE

November 15, 2020 Jay Yi

Last week, DoorDash, a U.S. food delivery company, filed its Form S-1 Prospectus with plans fora NYSE listing under the ticker “DASH”. Earlier this year, DoorDash raised $400 million, on a $16B valuation. [more]

Remote Workplace Technology Quarterly Update – Dropbox, Slack, and Zoom Experience a Surge in Revenue

September 12, 2020 Jay Yi

This past quarter, the COVID-19 pandemic continued to facilitate the adoption of various platforms and services for remote working, with offerings that support cloud storage, workplace communication, and video conferencing. [more]

Video Streaming Quarterly Update – Netflix, Roku, and Disney Report Impressive Growth in New Paid Membership Accounts

August 31, 2020 Jay Yi

Netflix led the quarter with almost 200 million paid membership accounts, followed by Disney and Roku, with 102 million and 43 million paid membership accounts, respectively. Global video streaming market is expected to reach $843 billion by 2027, a 12% CAGR between 2020 and 2027. [more]

Gold BAANG Stocks Outperform Tech FAANG Stocks Year-to-Date

August 25, 2020 Chris Thompson

So far this year, a basket of Gold BAANG stocks (Barrick, AngloGold, Agnico Eagle, Franco-Nevada, and Gold Fields) is up 58% versus the Tech FAANG stocks (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google/Alphabet), up 52%. [more]

Quarterly Cloud Update – Alibaba, Alphabet, Amazon, IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle

August 20, 2020 Jay Yi

According to Gartner, the global public cloud services market is expected to reach US$$266 billion in 2020, a 17% increase year-over-year, led by segments Software as a Service (“SaaS”) and Infrastructure as a Service (“IaaS”), which are expected to grow to US$$116 billion and US$$50 billion, respectively. [more]